Sniffles
by Otakusalad99
Summary: 1000


Sakura quickly cleaned herself up after her third and hopefully final surgery of the day. Disposing of her gloves carefully in the biohazard bin, she gave herself a quick look over. "Perfect as always" she quipped, satisfied with her slender and feminine curves and not to bad busts, two things she severely lacked as a young genin. Normally on a Tuesday afternoon Sakura leisurely walked home having nothing of great significance waiting for her. However, tonight was different in the best way possible all due to Sasuke randomly asking her out on a date. Being a medical ninja, having a moment to yourself was next to impossible. If it wasn't cleaning up vomit off the floor, it was checking temperatures left and right or making runs to the inventory room for extra blankets and medical supplies. Long story short, Sakura needed a break and thankfully it came in the form of Sasuke. Dreamy, tall, beautiful Sasuke. Caught up in her daydream, Sakura narrowly avoided bumping into Kakashi sensei reading his perverted novels. "Nothing new there" she thought rolling her eyes.

"Oh Sakura it's you" Kakashi smiled with his one exposed eye. "Good evening sensei" she bowed in respect to her former teacher. "My apologies for bumping into you, im in a bit of a hurry". Kakashi lowered his book, always interested in the happenings of his ex-students lives "Hm, let me guess" He scratched his masked covered chin for effect. "You wouldn't be rushing home to get ready for a date would you?" Surprised that he guessed it so easily, Sakura blushed slightly. "How...how did you know?" she was embarrassed from all the blushing she was doing, only making her blush more. "I'm a shinobi, we're trained to gather intel" he chuckled as he always did. Hearing that, Sakura's smile quickly turned into rage as she bashed Kakashi on the head with his own book. "Have you been spying on me Sensei!" Fearing for his life, Kakashi pleaded with Sakura that he only made an innocent joke. This calmed her down and she was back to her cheerful nature. "Sasuke asked me out, can you believe it?" she was as giddy as a small child. "Well, I can't say I do. You kids have fun, but not too much fun" he winked at her, chuckling at his own cleverness, earning him another smack on the head from Sakura. "Honestly you're as bad as Naruto sometimes!". And with that, she hurried the rest of the way home.

"Good luck Sasuke" Kakashi passed out on the road still dazed from Sakuras monster strength. "You're gonna need it". Meanwhile at the Uchiha household...

A...hih...heh!...AH!...nothing. Another false alarm. Sasuke sighed rubbing his now red nose. "Today of all days!" He thought to himself. Plucking another tissue from the box, Sasuke scrubbed at his nose, trying to coax out the sneeze that had been bothering him since lunch. Instantly his nostrils twitched and wiggled uncontrollably. "Yes finally!" he cheered internally. Ah...hi...heh! This was it, this stupid sneeze was finally going to leave him alone. He prepared for the sweet release, gripping the edge of his sink to steady himself. However, he suddenly felt really strange, or at least his nose did. A sensation like a thousand fire ants filled his sinuses causing him to tear up. Sasuke suddenly didn't want to sneeze anymore, however it was too late. He was gonna sneeze. He must've stood there for over a minute, desperate to relieve himself of discomfort, the burning sensation growing by the second. "What could this be?" He wondered. On the verge of exploding, he finally gave in allowing whatever was irritating his nose to find its way out. ACHOOOOO! He felt wonderful, relived and on fire? Sasuke looked down to see his shirt was on fire, panicking he ran to the sink turning on the water just in time. Why the hell did that happen? Sasuke wrecked his brain, which admittedly was starting to ache a bit, as to why his shirt was randomly on fire. The last thing he remembered was sneezing and than extinguishing himself. Wait, could it be? Suddenly a sneeze interrupted his thoughts. Ah...heh...ITCHOOO! He nearly fell over from the force of it. The massive painting of the Uchiha symbol he kept in his room was now burned to a crisp. Sasukes eyes widened with fear, could it really be that his fire jutsu was being triggered every time he sneezed? As impossible as it seemed, Sasuke hadn't been sick since he was a kid thanks to the surplus of chakra he now possessed, so he hadn't actually sneezed in a while. This is bad, this is very bad. "Ding Dong!" 7:00 on the dot, it was almost time for him to meet up with Sakura. Worried now, he searched frantically for a thermometer knocking over pills and ointments in the process. Aha, got it! Without a second to waste, he stuck it in his mouth waiting impatiently for the timer to go off. Beep Beep...Beep Bee- he pulled it out quickly, staring defeatedly at the numbers displayed on the tiny screen. 100.2 , yup definitely a fever. "Well, could be worse" he stated in his typical monotoned voice. Popping two Aspirins in his mouth, Sasuke decided to risk it all hurrying out the door to meet the girl that he loved.

Sakura waited outside Itchirakuys Ramen shop. She could hardly believe how fast she was able to get ready given that there was a bunch of emails she had forgotten to answer and no longer could ignore, plus she wasn't able to find the shoes she needed to complete the first outfit she had picked out. Giving herself one last look over, she was pleased with the baby pink kimono she'd picked out that complemented her eyes so well. She wore her hair up as she remembered Sasuke saying he liked it better that way, even though it made her self conscious of her massive forehead. But if Sasuke liked it, so did she. A cool breeze suddenly blew by giving Sakura a chill. I wonder what's keeping Sasuke so long? Her hands twitched slightly, something she did when nervous. I hope he didn't stand me up, or worse... just forgot about me. Sakura was letting her insecurities get the best of her, but unlike her genin days, she was more in control of her emotions quickly regaining her composure.

Sasuke was slowly but surely on his way. He realized how late he was picking up his pace into a light jog. Relieved that his nose, which was redder than when he left the house and much stuffier too, was giving him somewhat of a break. But he knew it wouldn't last, already feeling the burning start back up. Damnit, I can't sneeze and trigger my jutsu, Sakura would run away from me. And she's just warming back up to me after all the pain I've caused. Leaping through the trees above, Sasuke discovered a shortcut. Wait for me Sakura, I'll be there this time, I promise. And with that he jumped through an opening , landing gracefully on his feet just in time for Sakura to turn around and notice him. Is that you Sasuke? The rosette struggled to see through all the darkness. "Yeah" Sasuke replied stepping out into a pool of twilight. He paused, taking in her appearance, something he spent so much time ignoring. She was beautiful in that kimono dress with her hair pulled back just how he always liked it. "Is it too much?" She blushed. "N...no!" He chocked out. For the first time in his life, the always cool and collected Uchiha actually felt...nervous? "Shall we?" Sakura stood there unsure of what to do, suddenly her legs didn't work.

Sur- ah...HIH! Sasuke covered his face with his hand, frozen in place. All the leaping through trees had cleared up the mucus that had settled in his sinuses, threatening to ruin his night. "Are you okay?" Sakura was very confused as to what was going on, plus they were very late getting to the restaurant. "I'm fi- if- AH! Th burning sensation made Sasuke tear up again. "God, this is so embarrassing" he thought to himself. Sakura blinked wide eyed at the crying Uchiha? "Are you crying Sasuke?" She couldn't believe the words as she was saying them. He paused, weighing his options. "If I remove my hand I'll sneeze for sure, burning down the entire restaurant. However if I play along like I'm actually crying it might buy me some time" he thought a little longer, and than began making sounds as if he were crying. "You're...you're" he pretended to be chocked up. "You're just so beautiful Sakura" he said. A stunned Sakura completely lost all cool she had when he first arrived. "I'm...what?" Was her only response. "Please don't make me say it again" Sasuke groaned internally. He wasn't really the affectionate type. "I said, you're beautiful" Sakura gasped. So she had heard him correctly. Feeling awkward, Sasuke quickly changed the subject. "Why don't we just head inside, we're already late". He felt sure enough that he wouldn't cause a fire, lowering his hand from his face.

At Itchyrakuys, a very annoyed old man stood before them. "Sorry we're late" Sakura bowed in respect. "You two think I have all day to wait around!" Sakura looked guilty, while Sasuke rubbed vigorously at his nose. "Anyhow, no matter. You're finally here. So what will it be?" Now the old geezer was smiling. "Two miso Ramen with pork on the side please!" Sakura usually detest anything Naruto liked, but she had to admit that miso ramen was pure magic. "Two miso Ramen coming up!" And with that, the old man disappeared into the kitchen. Sakura looked to her left noticing Sasuke still pawing at his nose. The pills he took were beginning to wear off, another effect of his chakra. "You look a bit pale compared to an hour ago" she stated. Sasuke was worried Sakura might catch on that he was sick. "It's nothing, just dust" he could feel her glaring at him, Sakura was many things, but stupid she was not. "Dust eh?" She looked around the restaurant, it was spotless just as it had always been. Choosing to ignore it, Sakura waited for the order to arrive, but not before she could mess with Sasuke a bit. "Hey old man?" The old geezer poked his head out from his cooking quarters. "Do you need something?" He asked, still mixing the Ramen. "A bottle of sake if you don't mind?" He gave her a wide grin knowing how expensive sake was. "Of course!" He replied practically dancing on the spot. Sasuke glared at Sakura, his dark eyes laser focused on her. "What is she up to?" He wondered. He switched on his sharingan trying to find the truth. "That won't work on me Sasuke" she had him right where she wanted him.

Shortly after, the old man reappeared from his cooking quarters with two bowls of ramen and a large bottle of sake. Sasuke immediately noticed the sake. He gulped. For a while Sakura quietly ate her ramen, occasionally stopping for a drink or to talk to Sasuke about his days as a rogue ninja. Sasuke however, was less talkative than usual (if that were even possible).He couldn't keep his eyes off the green bottle of potential embarrassment. "Sakura" he cut her off mid sentence. The rosette stopped rambling, looking over to Sasuke. "Yeah?" A smile nearly crept on her face threatening to blow her cover. The look of horror on Sasuke's face was priceless. "Is that for us?" If Sasuke didn't know any better, he might've thought that he was trembling a bit. "No" she said matter of factly. He exhaled in relief. "It's for you" she smiled, pouring him a shot. Sasuke looked at Sakura, than at the glass and than back at Sakura. "She has to know how much of a lightweight I am, right?" He thought to himself.

Sakura stared at him expectantly, making Sasuke squirm in his seat.

"Take a sip" Sakura teased sliding the God forsaken bottle closer to him. "I'm good honestly" he said, feeling himself sweat from anxiety.

"Nani?" She looked shocked at his response, although aware that the uchihas were not big drinkers due to their being light weights. "Oh come on Sasuke, live a little" she realized she sounded a bit to eager for him to drink it, thus deciding to back off a bit before he got too suspicious. They sat and ate their ramen, while Sakura rambled on about her work and family and Narutos antics while Sasuke gave short responses, rubbing his nose absentmindedly every so often. Noticing how late it was getting, Sakura stopped talking and aimed her attention to the still unopened sake. "It's now or never" she thought to herself. Sasuke fidgeted with his fork, wondering if she was being serious about taking shots with him. Sakura cautiously poured a small glass of light brown liquid, swirling it around before bringing it to her lips. "Oh wow" she cringed slightly due to the burning sensation it left in her throat. She herself wasn't a heavy drinker, but could handle her own against ninja much larger than herself. Most likely a skill obtained from training under the legendary drinker herself, Sunade. "You're next" she hiccuped, sliding a glass to Sasuke.

"She is serious" He panicked. Slowly the uchiha brought the glass up to his lips, making the face of a man who knew he had lost. "Sakura I-" before he could say another word, a finger was pressed to his lips. "Sasuke, you're hardly ever in the village and the times that you are, you're either training, walking or with Naruto" Sakura had a far away look in her eyes, as if remembering something bittersweet. he sighed knowing she was right and without warning downed the entire glass of sake in one gulp. His cringe was more intense and lasted much longer. "Are you okay?" She asked generally concerned. The effects were already setting in and by now he was regretting his decisions. "Huh? Oh yeah" He quickly replied, sniffling more and more. Sake, unbeknownst to many has properties that can loosen up mucus. Which explains why the 5th Hokage rarely suffers from colds or flus of any kind.

The night went on and they took shot after shot, progressively losing touch with reality. "I don't feel so good" Sasuke laughed, going for another shot. "You gonna throw up, lightweight!" Sakura cackled in a way that would make her sober self want to die of embarrassment. Sasuke scrubbed furiously at his nose which burned painfully, meaning a sneeze was on its way. "N-no.." he mumbled. Sakura suddenly stopped laughing, noting Sasukes pained expression. "Hey Sasuke, are you okay?" She slurred. "Hih...heh...Ah!" Sasuke tried to fight back but it was no use he was far to drunk to control anything. "Etchooo!" He blinked, gasped than sneezed again. "Etchoo!...itchoo...hupchoo!...heh...hih...choo!...choo!...nnxt!...huh heh...etchoo!" Sasuke sniffled and sniffled unable to stop himself. Meanwhile Sakura semi sobered up when things around her started going up in flames. "Is Sasuke shooting...fireballs?!" She realized how dangerous this was and quickly escorted him outside, all while he drunkenly sniffled and rubbed his nose. "Hey, Hey!" Sakura rubbed small circles on his back, unsure of what exactly just happened. Sasuke continued laughing and mumbling incoherent things to himself, holding up his glass as if expecting more sake to appear in it. "Let's get you home" She said, slowly pushing him towards his house avoiding stares from bystanders on the street. Although she had to admit, if she would've randomly saw Sasuke acting this way at 1:30 in the morning, you would have to stare.

"Is the date over?" A very clumsy Uchiha aimed his question at no one in particular. Sakura, still pretty drunk herself did her best to act as a crotch for his towering frame narrowly avoiding both of them face planting into the ground. "Me and my stupid ideas" she grumbled to herself. The rest of the walk home involved Sasuke yelling incoherent things to the trees and rocks on the path while Sakura willed his front door to appear just to make this endless hell disappear. Many stumbles later they finally reached the Uchiha compound. Sakura shivered from the eerie emptiness of it, nothing like the lively and charming konaha, although the compound was still apart of the village itself. "Ok Sasuke, down you go" Sakura tried her best to gently ease the man off her throbbing shoulder but Sasuke had other ideas and opted to just flop ungracefully onto the dirt, laughing hysterically as he did so. "Got it!" She unlocked the door, tossing her purse and his keys to the side. "Now for the hard part" she groaned, blowing a stray piece of hair from her eyes. Securing her hands under his armpits, Sakura used her monster strength to drag the Uchiha inside. "Sakura that tickles" Sasuke slurred, arms and legs sprawled across the oak floor. Ignoring him, she observed the room for anything that would ease his symptoms once he sobered up, which by the looks of it wouldn't happen until the next day. While Sasuke slept unbothered on the floor,Sakura, still a bit drunk herself, clumsily ran around gathering all the supplies she could think of. "This should be enough" she thought, settling next to Sasuke on the floor falling asleep almost instantly.

The next day.

Instead of waking up to the tranquil sound of birds chirping, a loud groan and two coughs was what Sakura got instead. Remembering somewhat the events of last night she looked over to her left to see a violently shivering Sasuke curled up impossibly close to her desperately trying to get warm. Aware of this, Sakura sprang up, only to sit back down from the worst hangover she's ever had. "Me and my dumb ideas!" She cursed internally, massaging her throbbing temples. "Sakura" Sasukes pitiful voice made her forget about the headache seeing that he was in a much worst state. Sweaty bangs stuck to his forehead, the chills and his face was bright red like a tomato.

Sakura had seen it all working at the hospital. Cuts, burns, amputations,colds, flus you name it, but looking at the great Uchiha sweat purfusely beside her was a sobering sight indeed. "Ah!" She gasped remembering the supplies she'd gathered before passing out the night before. Immediately a thermometer was under Sasukes tongue as Sakura filled a bowl with ice water shivering from the sudden cold. "Beep, Beep, bee-" she gently slid the device from his mouth, sighing at the tiny screen. "102.3" this is bad Sasuke-Kun, her voice laced with worry, falling on deaf ears as Sasuke was already knocked out. She couldn't help but giggle at his childish antics. Dunking a cloth in the bowl, Sakura expertly adjusted the cloth on Sasukes burning forehead. There was a long silence, disrupted occasionally by Sasukes groaning. "Thank you Sasuke-kun" Sakura smiled slightly brushing away his sweaty bangs. For a split second the urge to kiss his forehead was overwhelming. "Hmph! It be to easy this way" she scoffed. Although Sakura felt low when the raven would outright reject her advances in a weird way the chase is what excited her. Suddenly..."heh,shoo!*sniff*...*sniff*". Sasuke slowly opened his eyes to see a worn out Sakura smiling gently back at him, if he were anymore out of it he'd think it was his mother. He returned the smile, runny nose and all. "Welcome back" her tone was teasing but earnest. She was worried the entire time he was under and contemplated waking him earlier, but decided against it. He attempted to sit up, but a high fever mixed in with an obvious hangover put an end to that. "Ugh, by head" He coughed into his fist, congestion setting in. "Try not to move so much" Sakura placed a pillow under his head, glancing at the clock on the wall. It was already noon and neither she nor Sasuke ate since their date last night. "Their date" she stood still for a moment letting the words sink in. A sudden growl from her stomach snapped her out of it. She was starving. Sasuke had fallen back asleep so now was her chance to prepare something. For someone who lived alone Sasuke had a lot of food stocked up in his fridge. But nothing packaged which lead Sakura to believe that the stoic Uchiha liked to cook in his down time. A thought that made her blush for some reason. An hour had pass. Sakura wiped the sweat from her brow looking satisfied with her work. Knowing Sasukes infamous love for tomatoes she decided a creamy tomato soup and brochette bread would be a nice surprise when he wakes up.


End file.
